The First Yin's Soul landed on his feet, his blue eyes looking up wildly.
The memories were quick to recollect. He had been eaten by the First Vao, and his Soul, stolen. He found himself in what looked like a strange castle, the floors checkered and shiny, the walls a gothic grey. And suspended from the ceiling, the horrifying sight of the Souls that had been devoured hung in cages, tortured shrieks of the damned ringing through the air. He didn't have much time to think after he recognized these details; the shadowy hands of abominations were reaching at him from the shadows, thousands of eyes littering the walls.
SLASH, SLASH, SLASH!
With just a few swings of Crescent Rose, his Light made quick work of the incomprehensible horrors. Lighting a cigarette, his mind spun until a plan began to form in his head.
This couldn't be any more perfect. If he was in the First Vao's Reality, then he could find his brother's Soul and put down his Blood for good. Blowing the smoke into the air, he stood up straight and stared down the approaching abominations, his eyes burning with fury.
"Fight ain't over yet, bitches," he snarled. "I didn't hear no fucking bell!"
He had no idea what abominations were doing in the First Vao's Reality. It should have only been the Blood he had to worry about. Had the First Vao's corruption run this deep, that he housed horrors beyond comprehension? His scythe began to glow, the Hero of Light gripping the weapon of his long dead sister in both hands and taking a stance.
Even now, he could feel the First Vao's Soul just a little deeper inside the castle. His lips curled into a smirk. It just got better. He thanked his luck for that.
The abominations charged soundlessly, their unnatural arms darting for his head. The First Yin moved like a blur, using momentum paired with his own body weight to shred the first to pieces, his Light sizzling and burning the chunks away to nothing. His white cloak flowed behind him, the Hero one with the world around him, his heart beating to the rhythm of the fight.
His boots slammed down on another's face, Crescent Rose transforming with a series of metallic clicks. With several squeezes of the trigger and racking back the charging handle, he shot out each of its eyes, the abomination letting out an unintelligible slew of cries its limbs flailing wildly in an attempt to kill him. The First Yin leapt around, baiting the monster into killing its own allies, ducking and dodging around its attacks. The Hero chuckled.
"C'mon, motherfucker. Kiss the shit off my fucking taint, cock sucker."
The abomination's destroyed eyes shrivelled, replaced by new ones that glowered at him. The First Yin smirked.
"Look at me; I'm a smoker. My lungs are shot to hell, got enough tar in 'em to build my own highway. Gonna let me kick your ass?"
The abomination lunged for him, his scythe gliding gracefully through the air. He didn't dodge its arm. He ran towards it, Crescent Rose shredding it to pieces. With a burst of Light from the blade, he severed the limb and left his magic behind, preventing a new one from growing.
The Souls above had begun to notice him as he slaughtered the abominations, their pitiful screams quickly rising into desperate, hopeful cries. The First Yin took another look. He didn't recognize any of them. But that didn't really matter to him. Running along an abomination's corpse, he jumped into the wall and kicked off the stone surface, just barely reaching high enough to grab the bottom of a cage and pull himself on top of it. Taking aim through the sights, he shot the chains, letting the cages fall and shatter to pieces, freeing the trapped Souls. It was only when they were all fallen that he swung his scythe through the chain holding the cage he stood in that he dropped back to the ground.
"You!" He shouted, pointing at the Soul of a Faunus girl. "Vao Branwen, where is he!?"
The little girl pointed a shaky finger "Th-that way! Y-you're Yin, r-right!?"
She must have been from the First Timeline. That was the only way she could've known who he was. He took a puff from his cigarette, turning around. "... Yeah. Now get outta here. Unless you want to be strung up in a cage again."
To the Souls he had freed, he looked just as they would think a hero would. His blonde hair ruffled by the breeze and his white cloak flowing like water in the wind, his scythe glowed with a beautiful golden Light.
He knew that if the Souls had been trapped in the first place, they'd be trapped again. They didn't even have weapons to fight the abominations. But at the very least, he wanted to give them a chance to flee into the depths of the First Vao's Reality and hide until it was all over.
Leaving the Souls to flee, he broke into a sprint and raced deeper into the castle, his cigarette threatening to go out from the speed he moved. All around him, the walls began to bleed black, the abominations rising from the Blood. He had never seen a Reality this corrupt, so corrupt it could spawn abominations. No wonder the First Vao was batshit crazy.
SLASH, SLASH!
He mowed through the abominations, shearing chunks from their slimy flesh, breaking through bones. He dominated the battlefield, his mind turning in thought.
These abominations weren't that old. If they had been older, their experience would have challenged him. That meant his suspicion was correct; the First Vao's Reality was birthing them.
A set of iron double doors stood in front of him and when he approached, black tendrils pulsating with Blood attempted to bar them. The First Yin skidded to a halt and spun around, facing the abominations that had been chasing him. Bending his knees, he took another puff of his cigarette, his blue eyes focused. A massive abomination was leading the charge, six jaws opening and snapping hungrily. It was perfect. The moment it had drawn close enough, the First Yin jumped as high as he could.
CRASH!
The abomination slammed into the doors, pulling the tendrils tight. It was all the First Yin needed, the Hero firing his sniper rifle.
SNAP! SNAP! SNAP! SNAP!
One by one the tendrils broke under the pressure of his bullets and magic, the First Yin slicing through the abomination and leaving its corpse to slow down the others, using the recoil of dry-firing Crescent Rose to pick up speed. Another double door, but this one much more elegant and decorated. His magic surrounded him, the Hero of Light gritting his teeth and bracing himself, spinning with Crescent Rose like a buzzsaw.
SMAAAASH!
The gold decorations clattered to the ground when he carved through the door, his feet sliding across the floor as he slowed down, glaring ahead. Just as the Faunus girl and his instincts had told him, the First Vao's Soul had been just a little further. He finally saw it; the Soul of his older brother.
His heart pounded as he stared around the massive chamber, cells lining the walkways patrolled by abominations, Souls trapped behind the bars. it finally dawned on him. He wasn't in a castle.
He was in a prison.
Realities mostly take the shape of how the Soul sees the world, and in rare cases like the Second Verde, their dreams - her marriage with the Second Vao and their home. But this wasn't the rare case. In the First Timeline, the First Vao's Reality had been the blood-soaked halls of Evernight Castle because it was all he knew. Mono's Reality had taken the shape of Grimmore because she found a place she finally belonged. Jasper's Reality had taken the shape of the great tree within the same city because it had served as her home, a new start. The Third Yin's Reality had taken the shape of Faralda because it was his home.
The First Vao saw himself as a prisoner of his fate, and his Reality reflected that in every aspect. A prison in which there was no escape, where he remained trapped.
The First Yin stared in dead silence, staring at his older brother in horror. Chains dangled from his wrists and ankles, the murderer sitting on the floor, bleeding, with a thing protruding from his back, whispering into his ear. The thing turned its head to the Hero of Light, his heart stopping in his chest.
"M... M-mom...?"
No. It couldn't be Summer. This thing was a twisted mockery of the kind woman who had died long ago. Her body was emaciated and thin, her face gaunt, dark, and skeletal, with sunken eyes and crooked teeth. Her fingers were unnaturally long, ending in claw-like nails. Her chest was ripped open to expose her beating heart - the same spot the First Vao's weapon had fatally struck her. Summer harshly squeezed the First Vao's shoulder, the Prisoner of Fate turning his head. His one scarlet eye met with Yin, the two staring each other down.
"... You... C-came," he rasped quietly. "Wot... Wot are you d-doing here...?"
The First Yin gritted his teeth, his grip tightening on Crescent Rose. "Th... This is your Reality...?" He stammered. "A prison?"
The First Vao nodded, his chains rattling as he stood up slowly. "... F-fitting, innit?" He murmured. "This... I-is a prison... My p... P-prison..."
The First Yin felt his gut wrench. Summer leaned closer, whispering something into his ear. The First Vao reached for his belt, drawing Grimm Demise. He looked like he didn't want to fight. But something was forcing him. It clicked in the First Yin's head immediately.
That thing wasn't Summer. It wasn't an abomination. It was something far, far worse. Something that took the shape of the one the First Vao had fought so hard and so long for. He remembered the First Cinder mentioning that he experienced hallucinations, auditory and visual, and had seen it himself when he took care of him in the Graveyard. The First Vao did experience hallucinations on account of his schizophrenia, but Summer wasn't one of them. From the very beginning, it had taken her appearance, manipulating him since he first unknowingly took it into his body. He hadn't been talking to a hallucination of Summer all these years. He had been talking to the Blood.
His heart thundered in his chest, each beat adding fuel to the flames of rage he had been keeping in check, threatening to break out of its furnace. He glowered at Summer, a purple veins beginning to snake it's way up his neck.
"Let him go," he snarled. Summer smirked at him, slowly shaking her head. She gave the First Vao a gentle caress on the top of his head, the murderer readying his weapon. The First Yin took a stance too, bracing himself.
"... I... I r-really don't want to do this," the First Vao whispered. "B-but... Us inmates shouldn't resist... This is our lives; our past, our present, and our future... We're prisoners, Yin... We're trapped in this endless loop, prisoners of fate. That's wot I was trying to change... Th-that's why... I'm g-going to hurt you, really, really badly. I can't... We're almost there..."
The First Yin spat out his cigarette butt, squashing it under his foot. "... Not happening," he growled. "It won't accomplish anything. The Gods won't allow it. That's why I'm getting you out of here. I'll rip that thing right out of your fucking back, and drag you out of this depressing place myself. You can take my arms and legs, and I'll drag you out with my teeth if I have to."
"Au-Auntie...?" The First Vao stammered, his hand reaching for the Blood protectively. "Y... You can't... Y-you c-can't take Auntie... Sh-she's all I h-have...!"
"That 'thing' isn't Summer," the First Yin hissed. But he knew there was no convincing the First Vao. The corruption of the Blood ran far too deep. There was only one thing left to do.
Fight against his older brother for what he hoped would be the last time. He knew that winning was beyond his capabilities; here, the Blood had more control than ever. From the walkways, the abominations watched in what could've easily been mistaken for curiosity. The First Yin gritted his teeth, locking eyes with his brother.
And finally, without warning, they charged at each other. Light and Dark flared in the violent clash of scythe and axe, the Souls crying from their stinking cells for the Hero of Light.
CLANG, CLANG!
The First Vao wasn't allowing the First Yin to land a single blow, blocking and deflecting every swing of Crescent Rose. But the First Yin wasn't allowing him to land a hit, either. If he did, then it would be the final blow that would settle everything. He was stronger than the First Yin, after all.
But the First Yin was faster. This wasn't the same person he had fought in the real world. This was the First Vao's Soul; for the first time since their fated battle at the end of the First Timeline, they were at an even match. The First Yin quickly pulled away, leaping back into the fight.
The glint of the serrated dagger, Misery, caught his eye in an instant. He twisted out of the way before the First Vao could stab him, grabbing hold of his icy wrist and pulling him off balance. But just as he expected, he was quickly holding a clump of ash, the Hero of Light dodging to the side as the First Vao came crashing down from above, his chains rattling against the floor.
Summer leaned down, her cold dead breath making him shiver when she whispered into his ear. (("Come now... Don't let him win. We're so close, Vao... So close to reaching the end..."))
The First Vao stood back up, the Darkness burning around him. And in an instant, everything went black, the sounds of footsteps echoing from everywhere around the First Yin.
He was no stranger to this attack. The First Vao had used it many times before in the First Timeline - using his Darkness to blind his enemies, and attack unseen. In this perpetual Darkness, only the First Vao could see the First Yin.
But there was a reason he didn't use it as often anymore. The First Yin steadied his breath, his blue eyes scanning carefully through the thick, inky blackness.
And finally he saw it. The dim scarlet glow of the Aura that occupied the First Vao's eye socket, sprinting towards him. If he knew his brother, he'd try to swing down, to cleave him in half and make it as painless as possible. He waited until the last minute to raise Crescent Rose over his head, praying his gamble was correct. If the First Vao didn't choose to swing down - which was a very high possibility, given how sadistic his fighting style had become - he would be left wide open.
CLANG!
His heart pounded in his chest, his foot kicking the First Vao straight in the chest, the Darkness disappearing in an instant. The First Yin pressed forward, keeping pressure on the First Vao. The Enemy bit his lip, his eye watering.
"W... Why...?" He croaked. "Y-Yin... P-please... We're a-almost there... A n-new T-Timeline... W-we c-can... S-start over..."
The First Yin shook his head, using his scythe to pull at Grimm Demise. He couldn't pull it from the First Vao's hands; the weapon was far too heavy for him. But he could at least pull him off balance again, stepping on one of the chains to keep him in place. "No, we can't," he whispered back. "Not if you summon the Gods. There is no starting over for us. Don't you get it? This is our fate; to keep running. But we don't have to fight anymore. Let me get rid of your Blood for good. And then... We can make our own life, in the Graveyard. I don't... I don't want to lose you again..."
Their weapons clashed again, meeting a special rhythm known only to them. The First Vao gritted his teeth, his lips pulling back to show the red stains on his teeth.
"... I c-can't do that," he breathed. "You know I can't... I c-can't... I j-just c-can't let this all be for nothing... I h-have to at least try, Yin... I p-promised everyone..."
The First Yin ducked underneath a swing of Grimm Demise, keeping an eye on the First Vao's shoulders. "... If... If you want to help everyone," he growled. "Then you'd better fucking run."
"N-neh-!?"
The First Vao's voice caught in his throat when his brother unclipped the white cloak that hung over his shoulders, his Light creating a breeze that took it into the air. The First Vao recognized it immediately. It was Summer's old cloak. He lunged for it, giving the First Yin the opening he needed. Summer's eyes widened when he leapt at the First Vao's exposed back, her hand beating the back of his head.
(("Turn around! Turn arou-"))
She stopped when the First Yin wrapped his arms around her, pinning her skeletal arms to her sides. Planting his feet on the First Vao's butt and the back of his neck, he took a deep breath, summoning all the Light he could, and began to pull.
The First Vao cried out in pain, nearly making the First Yin stop. Tearing Summer off his back was going to hurt really, really bad. The First Yin felt the chains wrap around him, trying to imprison his Soul. They tightened around his neck, cutting off his airways. But even still, he pulled, remembering everything that had happened in his long, horrible life.
The memories flashed back to him. Of his younger years with an alcoholic, rude delinquent that he had cherished. Of his first day of school, with the First Vao at his side. Of their adventures through Vale and Beacon Academy, until that day at the school dance, where their bond was weakened when the First Yin was given the Blood. The First Vao refused to stay in their dorm, and wouldn't answer his calls. And not long after that, their lives were permanently ruined at the Vytal Festival, when the First Vao had killed Summer. He remembered the years of hatred after that, training to kill his brother. Hunting him down for a decade, until he realized the awful existence of the Blood.
He had lived a miserable life. They had lived a miserable life. By all means, it would be justified to kill the First Vao now. But that wasn't what he wanted.
He wanted the same life he had tried to start in the Graveyard. When he and the First Vao had first started to rekindle their bond properly. He remembered standing in the halls of Beacon, standing in front of the First Vao as General Schnee ordered his execution. He remembered fighting tooth and nail to escape with the First Vao, fleeing into the depths of the Graveyard. He remembered taking care of his older brother, trying to help him overcome his hunger for human flesh. He remembered everything the First Vao had told him.
That he didn't want to hurt anyone anymore. He had begged the First Yin to leave him alone. He didn't trust himself one bit. But the First Yin had stayed. When the world stood against his decision, he never once regretted it.
He choked on the chain, his eyes glistening with hot tears as his lips parted in a scream, his Light flaring brighter, brighter, his arms strained as he pulled.
RRRRRRIIIIIPPP!
With one final tug, he felt Summer come loose, the Hero of Light tearing her off the First Vao's back. The murderer tumbled to the ground, his Blood already beginning to heal his wound. Summer's waist sprouted two legs, the woman pulling away from his grip and standing up.
The First Yin felt light. He could already feel his Soul being pulled. There was no escape. He was about to become the newest inmate of this hellish prison. Glaring at the First Vao, he screamed.
"Run! Fucking run, Vao!"
The First Vao watched in horror as the First Yin faded away, Summer glaring at him.
"Vao," she snarled. "Come here. If you listen, I will not punish you."
The First Vao shakily stood up, his weapons in his hands. He took one last look at Summer, his eye watering.
The First Yin's final wish was not wasted. He turned and he ran. Summer glared at the abominations, throwing her hand forward.
"Find him! Do not let him get away! Bring him back to me!"
The First Vao ran down the halls, choking on his own spit. He hated this. He hated running away from his problems. It was all he ever did. And yet there was nothing he could do to stop that.
Because that was his fate; to run, to fight an endless battle, to suffer. That was the fate of Yin and Vao, no matter how many Timelines passed. The fate the Gods had laid down for them.
And very soon after he had made his escape, the Reality trembled as it accepted its new visitors.
...
Thud.
The cold stone floor offered no cushioning when they landed on the ground, the adventurers slowly picking their heads up. Sapphire was the only one completely unaffected by the fall. She didn't have a brain to concuss.
"W... What... I-is this...?" Hekue stammered. The adventurers followed the dryad's gaze, their hearts thumping in their chests.
The entrance of the prison was dark, gloomy. Deeper within, they could hear the neverending screaming of the tortured, the cracks in the grey brick walls forever oozing with the black sludge - the Blood that tainted and corrupted the Soul of any host it infected.
"A... A prison...?" Verde said quietly.
There was no doubt about it. It was a prison; massive, with a reception counter to their right - an unmanned station. Chains dangled from the ceiling, slick with Blood. An innumerable amount of eyes seemed to peer at them from random corners, sinking and popping out of the walls, the floor, and all corners of their surroundings. Yin squared his jaw, a certain firmness in his eyes.
"... Let's go," he hissed. "The First Vao is capable of forcing people out of his Reality. We don't know when he'll do that, or if he even knows we're here..."
The adventurers nodded in agreement, following him deeper into the prison. As they walked, Salem glanced up at Mono. The Cult Leader looked... Distant. She kept staring at the depressing state of the First Vao's Reality, her grey eye seeming to hold something dark, something painful. The princess nudged her gently.
"... Is it... Too much?" She asked quietly.
Mono chewed on her lip, not meeting her eyes. "... If I... If I never left Grimmore..."
Sasha patted her on the back. "I don't think any of us could have reasonably thought shit was gonna hit the fan this hard," she growled. "Jack fucked us over big time."
"It's... Strange, though," Jasper mumbled. "Where are they?"
The adventurers looked up at the fairy that sat on top of Yin's head curiously. "What do you mean?" Midori asked.
Jasper gestured around. "Every time we've entered someone's Reality, haven't we seen their memories? Jack had total control over his, so he's an exception, but we even saw Mono's memories... Where are his?"
She had a point. As far as they knew, the First Vao remembered very little. But he hadn't forgotten everything. They should have at least seen something. It wasn't until Hekue's voice rang out that they stopped. The dryad was peering into a cell, the adventurers rushing to her side.
They nearly screamed at the sight. An abomination squirmed inside, thoughtlessly pushing against the wall.
"A... Abominations?" Vao stammered. "Those... Shouldn't be here, should they?"
Salem shook her head, her face very pale. "N-no... It means that... The corruption runs too deep," she answered softly. "Gods... How has he remained human this long? Not even I had abominations in my Reality... And mine was fractured and nonsensical..."
The abomination barely seemed to notice them. Tearing their eyes away from it, they continued down the dreadful halls, passing cells with Souls locked inside. Billions of people they never met before from across the First and Third Timelines, with the addition of the Souls he had stolen in the Graveyard.
Just how many people had he killed? How many people had he eaten on this horrible, terrifying path?
How many were necessary?
This many people couldn't possibly have been needed to get this far. He already proved he was dangerous to the point where even highly trained professionals and the military struggled to fight him. The only way he could have amassed so many Souls was if he had actively hunted them.
For what purpose? He never used them for his power. Even at his most deranged, bloodthirsty, murderous state of mind, he never once used a single Soul to boost his power. The only time he ever came close was when he used the First Yin's Light, but even then they could tell he wasn't using the Hero of Light's Soul; he was only using his magic. If he wasn't using Souls to increase his already terrible strength, then why would he go out of his way to collect more?
"Is this... R-really forgivable...?" Hekue whispered quietly. She had voiced everyone's exact thoughts. Even when compared to Salem's long history of murders, the First Vao nearly matched it in so little time. Where Salem played the long game, it was as if he killed for sport. Killing, eating, and stealing the Souls of countless people, locking them away in this prison.
Did that mean he was the warden? This was his Reality. Who had control over it? Him? Or the Blood?
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
The sound of unimaginably heavy footsteps made them freeze. A wave of dread washed over them, a primal terror taking over. The world flickered around them, the walls beginning to bleed. The eyes that had been watching them grew vast in number, black Blood trickling from the rotted sclera.
Something was coming. Something massive. And it wasn't more than ten seconds before it rounded the corner, the behemoth towering over them. They nearly looked straight up at it, the color draining from their faces.
It was an abomination made of human corpses. Decayed arms jutted from its sides, skeletal and rotted fingers feeling the empty air as dozens of silver eyes swivelled around, a crocodilian mouth filled with seven rows of razor sharp teeth gaping and closing, three forked, barbed tongues licking the enamel.
The adventurers immediately drew their weapons, their legs refusing to move. Until now, they had never seen an abomination like this. It oozed with far more power than any abomination before it. It was the Behemoth.
The crocodilian jaws opened wide, the monstrous abomination letting out a deafening, frightful howl that brought the deepest despair. They covered their ears, pain shooting through their bodies as the walls of stone cracked from the sound.
"W... What the hell is that!?" Sasha screamed.
The Behemoth took an earth-shaking step forward - and lunged.
SNAP!
The adventurers tried to dove out of the way, but Vao's scarf was caught in its jaws. The Behemoth lifted him off the ground and swung him left and right, before throwing him to the side. If his head couldn't come off, it would have snapped his neck like a toothpick. The dullahan didn't get back up. It loomed over them, staring them down with its many eyes.
There was no walking away from this thing without killing it. That is, if it didn't kill them first.
The adventurers scattered when it dove again, its jaws ripping the stone floor to pieces. Yin's katana glowed with his magic, the blade singing through the air.
He barely even scratched its flesh. Scales grew from where he would have struck and defended the monster, the Behemoth whirling around and swatting him away like an insect with its tail.
Verde and Midori desperately cast their spells from afar, but nothing they threw at it had an effect. Not even Sasha's raw strength could crack the Behemoth's scales, not even chip them.
They could feel it. This was far above what they had fought before across the Timelines. Even now they could feel it pulsating from the Behemoth. A Soul.
By nature - or whatever it was - abominations didn't have Souls that could be understood. Yet they could feel something distinctly human inside it. The purpose of the Souls had become clear; something not even the First Vao had realized. They weren't just a backup source of unmeasurable power. They were being used to defend his Reality from being saved. The Souls were being twisted into abominations by the Blood's unthinkable power, twisted into monstrosities and horrors beyond human comprehension. If they hadn't been exposed to abominations before, they'd have all mentally snapped and become twisted, malformed shadows of themselves - abominations.
The Behemoth dug its mouth into the ground and scooped up a chunk of stone, launching it at Hekue and Sapphire as they tried to circle it. If the doll hadn't caught the stone, it would have crushed and killed Hekue.
Attack after attack bounced off, the black Blood oozing from its eyes as they swivelled wildly in its skull, scanning the adventurers for a target.
And finally, it settled its sights on Yin. The healer scrambled for safety as the Behemoth chased him down, taking flight. Without wings, it became a flying beast, howling and screeching. From its jaws lasers ripped the earth apart at his feet, turning everything they touched to ash.
The laser nearly vaporized Yin when Salem tackled him out of the way, covering her lover as the death beam tore through the air over them. The princess yanked him back to his feet, Sasha picking up Vao and tossing his head to Verde. The adventurers ran as fast as they could through the halls, the Behemoth smashing through doorways and walls to reach them.
"What do we do!?" Jasper shrieked. "Yin's Light didn't even make it flinch!"
"Just keep running!" Sasha screamed back. "We can't fight that thing head on! Verde, make a plan!"
The witch clutched her husband's unconscious head tight to her chest, her eyes wide with panic. "I-I can't think of anything! Yin and Vao's Light and Darkness was always their weakness! Abominations are extremely hard to kill without it!"
"If it's really using a Soul, couldn't we start from there!?" Hekue suggested. She cried out in terror when the Behemoth burst through the doorway, its jaws wide open. Mono spun around with her hammer in her hands, the massive steel head crackling with lightning Dust. With one swing, she knocked it off course, narrowly saving their skin from being eaten in one bite.
It was easy to forget just how much stronger Mono was compared to Sasha. But even with her strength, she only succeeded in knocking the Behemoth down. As it opened its mouth into another howl, Yin gritted his teeth.
"There... There's no scales inside," he stammered. Salem glared at him.
"You'd better not be thinking what I think you're thinking," she hissed. "Those teeth'll shred you before you even get inside!"
"That's why we're using something small!"
Yin snatched Vao's head away from Verde, the witch crying out in horror. "N-no! Not him!"
Vao's eyes opened in confusion, the dullahan blinking. "N... N-nnn...? O-oi... I-is it over yet- NYAH!?"
Yin threw the dullahan's head as hard as he could at the Behemoth, Vao crying his eyes out as he soared past its teeth and down its throat. Verde lunged for Yin, drawing her dagger from her boot. The healer fought her off and grabbed her wrist, prying her wedding ring from her finger and throwing that inside too. Pushing the witch to the ground, he grabbed Vao's body and yelled into his ring. "Vao! Your magic! Use your magic-"
["WOT SORCERY IS THIS!?"]
"JUST USE YOUR DARKNESS, YOU MORON!"
The Behemoth stood back up and lumbered forward, the adventurers bracing themselves. It skidded to a halt in front of them, a loud and wet cough escaping its mouth. Darkness spilled out in a cloud, and with a horrid gagging noise, it launched Vao's head and the wedding ring back out. Yin caught his brother, the dullahan seething.
"Cunt! Cunt, cunt cunt cunt CUNT!"
Yin didn't answer, tossing the head back to his body and running forward while the Behemoth recovered, the adventurers attacking. Finally they were chipping away at the scales, Mono crushing them to fragments so Sasha, Salem, and Yin could stab between the cracks.
But even though they had found a way to damage it, it still didn't fall back. It body slammed them away, The Behemoth rearing on its hind legs. It's forelegs stretched out, its claws growing until they acted like segmented fingers.
CRACK, CRACK!
It tore through the ground as if it were wet paper, scratching at them wildly, unpredictably. With ease, as if they hadn't even tickled it, it continued its assault. Its jaws snapping shut, they were nearly overwhelmed with dread. They'd need more than a plan and strategy. They'd need luck to take down this monster.
Yin felt a pair of hands grab his sides from behind, Vao's headless body lifting him onto its shoulders. The healer cried out in terror when he lurched forward, the lasers tearing apart their surroundings. He could feel the intense heat of the rays heating his skin under his armor, threatening to melt the leather. "P-put me down!"
Vao's body didn't answer. Reeling his arms back, he threw Yin as hard as he could...
... Straight into the Behemoth's opening mouth. The jaws began to close on the adventurer, the teeth about to crush him into juice. Vao's body, Sasha, and Mono leapt forward and stuck their weapons inside, stopping it inches from turning Yin into a pile of flesh.
"Get inside!" Mono screamed. "Vao says he thinks he found a weak point!"
"Thinking isn't his strong suit!" Yin argued frantically.
"I'd love to hear any better ideas!" Sasha snapped back. "Get in!"
"No!"
Vao's body got a running start, jumping high into the air and dropkicking the healer before he could climb out, the pair tumbling down the Behemoth's throat. They clung to each other protectively as they rolled into the pit of its body, Verde's voice shouting from Vao's wedding ring.
["Are you inside!?"]
Yin was about to answer, but his voice became shrill with terror when a rotted arm seized his ankle. Vao's body drove his axe against it, pulling Yin away and pushing him deeper inside the Behemoth, pointing frantically. Even though he couldn't verbally communicate, Yin understood what he was trying to say. He wanted Yin to follow him.
Choosing to put his faith in his older brother - mostly because he didn't have much of a choice now - the pair broke into a sprint. Their boots squelched the decayed corpses under their heels, Yin's Light the only way to make anything visible. Eyes grew along the walls of the Behemoth's innards, firing lasers at them, rotted corpses reaching and clawing for them. Katana and axe pulverized any that drew near, the lasers blasting past.
Finally Yin saw it. He saw the thing that Vao had seen, but wasn't able to attack due to not having his body with him. The Soul the abomination had been using was chained to seven beating hearts, reduced to nothing more than a wispy light blue glimmer, its power sucked out to fuel the Behemoth's near-immortality.
Together they raised their weapons and attacked. Black Blood spewed over Yin's front as he cut through the hearts, Vao crushing the remains under his axe. With each heart, the chains loosened, the Soul beginning to take shape again. It wasn't until the sixth heart that it became recognizable. It was someone that neither of them expected.
It was their sister. Not the Third Ruby who had been obsessed with dolls - the First Vao never collected her Soul.
Which Ruby had he eaten?
It was the First Ruby. The same Ruby who had been crippled forever in attempted suicide, half of her face chewed off to expose the skull underneath. Her thin arms clutched the chains, her one silver eyes wild with insanity. She was still under the abomination's influence.
The lasers grew more intense, needles spiking from the floors, the walls, and the ceilings. It pierced through their armor, ripping the skin underneath. Vao smashed the final heart just as Yin grabbed onto her, the dullahan's body pulling the pin of his homemade grenades and throwing it at the wall. The explosion wasn't enough to blow a hole through it, but it was just enough to weaken it for their Light and Dark to create an exit. Tentacles writhed and grabbed onto the First Ruby's Soul in a desperate attempt to keep her trapped, the two pulling with everything they had.
But it wasn't enough. The hole was beginning to close. If they continued trying to save her Soul, they'd be trapped inside the Behemoth and never have another chance to escape.
It was then that their savior jumped into sight. A head of green hair, Hekue stared at them in terror. She dove inside and played a note on her ocarina, vines battling against the eldritch tentacles. Finally they loosened enough for Yin and Vao to take the First Ruby's Soul away, the healer spinning around and reaching out.
"H-Hekue! My hand! GRAB MY FUCKING HAND!"
Hekue reached desperately, the tentacles beginning to swarm them. Vao's body turned its attention to the hole. It was nearly shut.
In a moment of decisiveness, he grabbed Yin and pulled him away from the dryad, sprinting for the exit. Yin's heart sank, his terror rising. "V-Vao, what are you doing!? Hekue! We can't leave her-"
["It's either that or we're all fucked!"] Vao's voice screamed back from the wedding ring. ["I'm sorry, Yin! We can't- OI! Stop fighting back, you twat!"]
Yin was struggling to overpower his headless body, fighting to save his friend. Vao's head let out a loud whistle from somewhere outside, his body grabbing Yin by the neck and hair, using the momentum of swinging him around to launch themselves out of the Behemoth. Just before the hole closed shut and sealed, Yin caught one last look at Hekue.
The dryad had been ensnared by the tentacles, her horrified face dragged into the darkness of its body. They collapsed to the ground, the First Ruby bouncing across the stone, flying from their grasp. The Behemoth stumbled once, and then rose to its full height.
The shrill, bloodcurdling shrieks filled the air. Hekue's shrieks. And with them, the scales began to fall off one by one. It was finally weak without the First Ruby's Soul to empower it. Yin picked up his katana, his blue eyes burning with desperation as the adventurers leapt into another final assault.
Their weapons finally cut through its flesh with ease, Light and Darkness burning it away. The Behemoth began to twist and convulse, its limbs swinging wildly. But it couldn't continue fighting. Its body began to bloat, Sasha forcibly dragging Yin away as the adventurers dove for cover.
The Behemoth erupted, a fountain of scarlet and Blood bursting from its body as it exploded into a million pieces, Blood arcing through the air.
SPLAT!
SPLAT!
SPLAT!
The wet sound of the black Blood splattering against the walls echoed in their ears, the adventurers struggling to catch their breath, their nerves at new heights. Shakily, Yin lifted his head from the rut in the ground that Sasha had tossed him into. The tall tomboy wiped the sweat from her brow with her gauntlet, heaving a weak sigh. "H... H-holy f-fuck- hey!?"
Yin pulled out of her grasp, frantically jumping into what was left of the Behemoth. His fingers scratched and pulled at the flesh, his hands trembling. The adventurers stood behind him, watching silently as he called his friend's name.
"H... H-Hekue? Hekue, where are you?"
He couldn't find her. The only thing he found, when he pushed a mound of the abomination's corpse out of the way, was an ocarina lying abandoned. The ocarina she had given him, and he had given back when she lost her flute. There was nothing left of her. When the Behemoth had exploded, it shredded Hekue alive, ripping her to bloody pieces until it blended in with the Behemoth's own corpse.
His fingers trembled as he picked up the instrument, cradling it in his hands. He could hear footsteps behind him, and then the last voice he wanted to hear.
"... I'm sorry, mate. It was either her, or all of us," Vao said quietly. Yin turned his head, his eyes locking with his brother's red ones.
"You... You left her to die," he hissed. Vao nodded guiltily.
"I did. I won't lie," he replied. "And... I-I get it... She was my friend t-too... But if I didn't do something, we would've-"
"There could've been another way!" Yin snapped. He stood up, the ocarina gripped gently, yet firmly in his hands. "You... You got her killed!"
Vao was silent for a long while. The dullahan turned around, not looking anyone in the eye.
"... We already talked about it," he muttered, his voice beginning to crack. "... Look wot we're up against. Not everyone is coming back - not your mum, not mine, not dad, not our friends, not my kids... We all knew it... Yet we continue fighting against something we can't stop."
It was an excuse to push the guilt off himself. Yin slipped the ocarina into his pocket, slowly reaching for a cigarette. But his hand stopped just short of his pocket, the blonde's lips pulling back. "... Hey, Vao."
The dullahan wiped at his eyes, turning around. "Wot is it-"
THWACK!
Catching him off guard, Yin socked his brother in the mouth as hard as he could. The healer jumped on top of him, only landing two good hits before Vao overpowered him, lifting Yin off the ground and delivering a nasty headbutt to his nose. He dropped the healer, glaring down at him.
"You... Think I wanted to get her killed?" He snarled. "Bloody hell, Yin! Look at wot almost happened! It was about to be all three of us! Wot do you think would've happened if we died in there!? Everyone was about to be killed! We all agreed on it! This was a suicide mission!"
"I'd rather have died than get my friends killed!" Yin screamed back. "She was trying to reach for us! She didn't want to die!"
"I know that!" Vao hissed. "I... I-I know! I just... I-I just did what it took to survive! Haven't you learned anything from this... This Timeline shit!? We can't save everybody if we want to! Hell, I'd be surprised if the First Vao is even an option at this point! The only thing we got to go on is that this happened to Salem!"
Yin grabbed Vao's collar and pulled him close, their foreheads grinding into each other. "Yeah, we can't save everyone," he growled. "But that wasn't the same thing. That was murder!"
Vao reared his head back and threw it forward again, forcing Yin to back off. He had tears in he scarlet eyes, his fingers rubbing at his lips. "... We're done talking about this," he breathed. Without another word, he turned on his heel and picked up his axe, swinging it over his shoulder. Verde and Midori followed behind, albeit a bit hesitantly. Sapphire stuck close to him, not entirely understanding the situation.
Salem helped Yin to his feet, the healer looking down at the ocarina.
Hekue had been one of the few sources of positivity across the Timelines. It seemed that any time they met someone who could chase away their doubts, they would die at some point. The same thing happened to Pip. To Violet.
Yin understood why Vao did what he did. Vao had sacrificed Hekue so they could still save the First Vao like they intended. Without Light and Dark together, it would be impossible. Saving the world, whether the First Vao was alive or dead, would be impossible if one of them died.
That still didn't mean he agreed with it. Morally, it was a cruel and selfish thing to do. But there really was no other way. Clenching his fist, he turned his attention to the First Ruby's Soul. The crippled girl was unconscious, her one dull eye half-lidded, the exposed bits of her skull gleaming in the dim light. The slow, rhythmic rise and fall of her chest was the only thing to signal that she was still alive.
They had saved her Soul. Yet her Soul wouldn't have died; the abomination would've simply kept stealing its power. Hekue had been sacrificed for someone who was never going to die. That just made it worse. It made it feel like her death was for nothing.
He thought about his actions as he turned, following his friends deeper into the depths of the prison. He thought, as he often did.
Deeper into the halls, he looked at Vao quietly. The dullahan met his gaze for only a split second before averting his gaze back to the ground. They didn't exchange words. There was nothing to be said when they were both thinking the same thing.
This was their fate. No matter what, they'd live over and over again, and their friends would die over and over again. If they didn't succeed - which they rarely felt like they did, due to the Gods constantly resetting the Timeline - it would all happen again, and they'd have no memory of it.
That feeling returned. The feeling that brought guilt, sorrow, fear, anger, and despair. That feeling of existential dread.
It persisted, until they reached another expansive chamber. Cells, empty, surrounded them all around, rusted chains dangling high above. They slowed to a halt, their eyes resting on the center of the room, to the figure hunched on the floor. Their hearts began to race, a cold sweat breaking out.
A head of absurdly long black hair faced them, a pair of deathly pale hands scratching gently at the floor. Slowly, the face turned to them, his teeth stained forever with his diet. A single eye as red as blood stared at them from the bangs that fell over his thin, feminine face, blemished with nearly black rings. And his left eye was missing completely, a pitch dark pit glaring blindly ahead. And slowly, his lips curled into a cold, cruel smirk.
The First Vao slowly stood up, the air growing colder. Along the walls, the eyes returned, staring at the adventurers with their unreadable emotions. Immediately they could feel it. A Soul inside the First Vao.
Was this really him? Were they wrong about his innocence?
The First Vao lunged with a fit of watery, yet very dry laughter, his hands reaching for them. The adventurers dove out of the way, Sasha instinctively swinging her greatsword. But to their shock and horror, he swatted it away with his bare hand, not even taking a scratch.
THWACK!
Blood spewed from his back and formed a tendril, smashing the elf against the wall. The adventurers jumped out of the way as he charged again, the madman dodging Verde and Midori's spells, quickly closing the distance between himself and Yin. His knuckles broke the healer's teeth, Mono immediately tackling him.
With Mono's already humongous strength, she should have been a challenge. But he overpowered her with ease, lifting the Cult Leader into the air and balling her up before hurling her at Verde, knocking the two down.
Yin and Vao swung their weapons, the Blood ripping from the First Vao's stomach and blocking the blades with ease. The tendrils wrapped around them and squeezed until scarlet dribbled down their chins before slamming them into each other, the murderer awkwardly jumping back.
All of his movements seemed unnatural. The way his legs moved as he ran seemed as if he hadn't walked in a long time, or as if his legs were broken. Every attack, he swung his entire body weight, throwing himself off balance. It was like fighting an animal rather than a person.
Mono yanked Yin out of the way just as the First Vao leapt into the air and slammed back into the ground, the Blood creating a shockwave that pushed everything in its path away, the stone floor cracking like glass under his monstrous weight.
"What... What is this!?" Mono hissed. "This... This isn't how he fights...!"
"What are you talking about?" Yin hissed back.
"His weapons!" Mono growled. "They're never away from him! Even when he's fighting with his own body, he controls his movements and breathing!"
Yin looked back at the First Vao as Salem and Vao got beaten into the ground, the gears in his head turning. Key features of the First Vao were missing. The corruption wasn't burned into his skin. His Aura was missing, leaving his eye socket nothing more than a dark pit he couldn't see out of. And he rarely used the Blood to kill his enemies - where was his Darkness?
His thoughts were interrupted when a sudden gust of wind blew past him and Mono, the smell of roses tickling his nose. Wilted, decayed petals scattered in the air, the gleam of a scythe catching his eye.
The First Vao spun around wildly, his hands clamping down on the sides of Crescent Rose before it could reach his skin, the First Ruby's rotted face glaring down at him. With her Semblance, she ran circled around him, her scythe striking at his skin. The First Vao couldn't keep up, but her attacks didn't do anything to him. They didn't even rip his clothes. The First Ruby glared at Yin, her dull silver eye filled with fury.
"Help me!" She screamed. "Fight back! We need to kill it!"
"But-"
Mono's protest was interrupted when the First Vao kicked the First Ruby across the room, barrelling towards her in a twister of Blood. He crashed down into her frail, mutilated body, cracking through her exposed ribcage before moving towards Midori the moment the witch fired off a spell at him. The First Ruby gritted her teeth, picking up the pieces of her bones off the floor.
"It isn't him!" She snarled. "You were talking about that, right!? You hit the nail on the head! That isn't my brother! It's an abomination!"
Yin's attention snapped back to the First Vao. If it was an abomination, then whose Soul was it using?
He lunged forward with Mono ahead of him, the Cult Leader swinging her hammer furiously. It was clear she didn't care much for whoever's Soul was being used. She was just pissed that anything that wasn't the First Vao would take the First Vao's appearance.
But even all together, they never landed the first blow. The Blood tore through the air, shredding their armors off their bodies. The Imposter burst into laughter, dashing towards Yin again. It's fingers began to grow longer until they were like daggers, the healer nearly breaking down into a panic as he blocked each fatal swing. But the attacks weren't anywhere close to as heavy as the real First Vao's blows. The Imposter lacked the raw killer's instinct.
CRACK... CRACK!
Yin's eyes widened in horror when four tendrils burst from the abomination's back, piercing his sides - two on his right, two on his left. With ease he was lifted off the ground and slammed down over and over again, until it tossed him back. The healer scrambled to his feet, the horrified screams of his friends echoing around him. He turned almost deliriously, a freezing sweat rolling down his skin when he stared at the ceiling.
The ceiling writhing with eight-legged spiders, arachnids of all kinds dropping down on their webs. Tarantulas, widows, hunstmen, all breeds of spider that they could imagine. Except there was one key feature.
They were huge. Each one was bigger than their heads, their fangs dripping with venom, their eyes glowing red. And for someone with an intense fear of spiders like Yin, it was a nightmare. He looked back at the Imposter, his face pale with fright.
Those tendrils that had pierced his skin. They were segmented. They were just like spider's legs.
Could the Soul the abomination was using... Was it her?
The Imposter attacked again, a hysterical fit of laughter escaping its lungs. Yin gritted his teeth, trying to come to a decision. Did he really want to save her, of all people? That crazed woman who, when she had the Blood, was capable of nearly lobotomizing his sister-in-law and turning her into a vegetable?
He thought back to that moment in the cave. She had said she was alone for over fifty years. Was there more to her? Would it be wrong to abandon her as an enemy? Jasper, Tourmaline, Sapphire, and to some extent, even Mono had been regular people.
There was only one way to find out. And even if she was just as terrible as Jack, he wouldn't wish this fate upon his worst enemy; to live in eternal agony at the twisted hands of the Blood. Besides, the only way to kill an abomination with a Soul would be to take the Soul out. Yin gripped his katana - and fought back.
The Imposter was slower than the First Vao. Slower than Yin. It didn't seem used to fighting in a human body, if its movements said anything. The hero took full advantage of that. Twisting his body away from the spider's legs, he swung his katana, his Light burning bright.
CLANG, CLANG, CLANG!
He was struggling to scratch it. But he could tell from the way it flinched with each blow that the Imposter felt his strikes. It motivated him to push harder, Vao diving into the fight by throwing his head at the monster with full force, catching it off guard. It was exactly what Yin needed to circle around, and cut its back wide open.
Long brown hair fluttered into view, and time seemed to slow. In that moment where he exposed the Soul that was trapped, he saw her face. His suspicions were correct. The spiders, this familiar feeling.
It was Saril.
Again he found himself in doubt. With her Soul exposed, he could kill her here. It would achieve killing the abomination - with no Soul at all, it would be weak. But when he saw the terror in his eyes, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Once again, he threw away his personal feelings. Just as he always did, since the First Timeline.
He sheathed his katana and reached his hands out, wrapping them around the woman's bare upper body. He could feel her arms wrapping around him desperately as he planted his feet into the Imposter, his lips parting into a scream. He screamed for his older brother. He screamed Vao's name, the dullahan grabbing hold of the Imposter. The rest followed suit, and together they began to pull.
Yin and Vao looked at each other, their lips pressing together before pulling back, giving only a brief nod of agreement. Yin's Light travelled to his feet, Vao raising his hand shrouded in Darkness. And with a blast of Light and Dark at the point the abomination and Saril were attached, with the added efforts of everyone trying to pull them apart, Yin tore her Soul free. He held onto Saril tightly as he flew through the air, taking the impact under her weight, letting her slide across the stone safely.
He stood back up and drew his glowing katana, standing in front of the arachne. The Imposter shivered, its face almost seeming to melt. Without Saril's Soul, it couldn't maintain the necessary power to keep up its appearance. Without a Soul, it was just another abomination.
With their fury burning in their hearts and the desire to save the world they loved, Yin and Vao charged for the final assault. This time their magic cut through the abomination's gooey flesh with ease, the unfathomable creature struggling to get away. The adventurers met them at their sides.
And as Saril and the First Ruby watched, they could see it. They were the same image of the First Yin and his friends, of Team FRSB in the Second Timeline. They were the heroes of the Third Timeline, the Heroes of Twist.
The Imposter shrieked and howled as they brutally beat the hell out of it, its movements growing slower. With just one swing of her hammer, Mono knocked off nearly all of its flesh, exposing its skeleton. Verde and Midori burned its bones to a crisp with Jasper's help, with Sapphire and Sasha carving up the bits of flesh scattered across the prison floor so it would never grow again.
And for the final strike that sealed its fate, Yin and Vao stood side by side as katana and axe tore apart what was left of the skeleton, Light and Dark turning its bones into dust in a violent explosion.
They shivered where they stood. It wasn't as difficult as fighting the Behemoth, but it was still nerve-wracking. If the Imposter had been larger, it would've doubtlessly been harder.
Why had it taken the form of the First Vao, anyway? Was it solely to mess with their heads? Was it to convince them that he couldn't be saved, and trick them into leaving his Reality? The latter seemed more likely. If it hadn't been for Ruby to confirm their suspicions that it had been a false figure of the psychotic madman, it might've succeeded in that goal.
Tap tap tap...
Yin turned his head, a cold sweat breaking out on the back of his neck. Saril had stood up.
"Y... Y-Yin...?" She croaked. "You... C-came back...!"
Tap tap tap tap!
Verde instinctively hid behind Vao when Saril drew closer, the adventurers never lowering their guard. Yin felt his body freeze when Saril's arms wrapped around him in a hug, her sharp fingernails gently scratching his back. Her nails were capable of cutting through stone - he wasn't eager to tell her to shove off. Instead, he awkwardly pulled away. "Y... Yeah... C-came back," he mumbled. Saril's eight eyes moved over the adventurers curiously.
"Everyone... Is here... Even Milady," she said softly. Mono furrowed her brow.
"... Aren't Yin and Salem a coupl-"
Vao stepped on her foot to get her to stop talking, but that only got him punched in the mouth. Saril - luckily - didn't seem to notice. The arachne paced side to side, squinting at them. She didn't have very good eyesight. Sapphire waved happily.
"Hi, Miss Saril!"
Jasper cleared her throat, taking charge. Her ego helped her confidence at speaking with the attention-starved, dangerous woman. "We're looking for the First- Lord Vao's Soul. We're trying to save him. Have you seen anything that could help us?"
Saril nodded, her lips curling into a happy smile as she clutched Yin's arm, much to the healer's despair.
"Mhm! When that abomination took me, we passed him a little while ago," she said. "He was heading to the courtyard. That... Thing wasn't with him, though... It usually is..."
"Thing?" Midori echoed. "What thing?"
Yin's mind travelled back to the evil creature he had seen in his Reality. His curiosity was piqued, his blue eyes looking up at Saril for answers. But the arachne shrugged lightly.
"I'm... Not very sure," she admitted. "I couldn't see it very well... But it's shaped like a human, I think... He calls it 'Auntie'."
A feeling of dread washed over them. Had the First Vao mistaken his Blood for Summer in his insanity? It was highly likely; even without the Blood, he had developed many mental issues throughout his life. Even if they cured him, they knew he'd never stop hallucinating or hearing voices. Schizophrenia; it was the strongest of the many different psychosis he suffered, developed through his uncontrollable murder sprees.
Or was it something more sinister? That was Mono's thought. Knowing him the best out of everyone present, she knew he wasn't like his Second and Third Timeline counterparts. His experience had made him more smart, more perceptive than most people who ever existed. And with how important Summer was to him, it was unlikely he'd mistake anything for her.
Yin was the only one who had seen his Blood. But he only saw its shadow; he never saw the full creature. His knowledge was useless here.
"Where is this courtyard?" Sasha asked. The First Ruby looked up, her skull gleaming in the dim light of the prison.
"... It's just ahead. I can take you there," she offered. "With any luck, he'd still be there, or at least around the area... This thing she's talking about is probably the Blood... If it isn't with his Soul, then something's wrong... Be ready for anything."
They greatly appreciated her warning, even if they didn't need it. They all knew he was capable of turning them into past tense if he really wanted to. The First Vao was a ticking time bomb; any wrong move, any wrong word, was capable of setting him off and making him see them as threats. Even if he overpowered them in physical and magical power, he never underestimated his opponents. He viewed everyone as capable of killing him - an ideology that had helped him survive the First Timeline.
But as the First Ruby led them down the halls, they quickly became painfully aware that Saril was following them. The arachne was still clinging to Yin's arm affectionately, much to Salem's frustration. The princess clung to his other arm, the healer looking to Vai for help. But the moron didn't get it. Instead he flashed Yin a thumbs up and a wink.
Fucking asshole, Yin thought to himself.
He was grateful when Midori broke the silence. "... What are you doing?"
"I wanted to come with you!" Saril replied. "It's been so long... I can't let my husband get hurt..."
"... Husband?" Mono echoed. "Ah... Right. Saril was obsessed with Yin..."
"Yeah, that's my bad," Vao admitted. "I kind of sold him to her."
The First Ruby turned to him, her jaw dropping open. "You... Sold your brother?"
"It's... A really long story," Verde said monotonously. "... I'm... Not very comfortable with Saril following us..."
No one seemed to disagree. Salem noticed that Vao hadn't left Verde's side since Saril made her reappearance, and kept Midori close to them. She could see it in his scarlet eyes, and Verde's green eyes. They were worried the arachne would do something similar to what she did in Grimmore, or worse. Sasha walked with her arms folded across her muscular front, her light green eyes never shifting away from Saril for more than a second or two. Jasper seemed nervous as she sat on top of Yin's head, biting at her nails. Mono seemed tense, but it was likely that she didn't care whether or not Saril accompanied them - she was here for the First Vao, and she made it clear that she suspected they'd try to kill him. Sapphire was the only one unfazed, the doll skipping at Vao's side and talking about random things she liked.
Saril wasn't trusted, and for good reason. Even before the Blood, she had been a little crazy, her loneliness driving her almost mad.
The princess gulped, warily looking at the airheaded spider woman. Saril didn't seem hostile in the slightest, but she was aware of the stares.
It was too late, now. They couldn't afford wasting the energy to kill her or drive her off. The First Ruby led them to a pair of steel doors, her hand and skeletal hand resting on the push bars.
"... Are you ready?" She whispered.
The adventurers gulped, nodding their heads. Without another word, the First Ruby pushed the doors open, letting them step inside before her.
It was time. They were about to meet the First Vao's Soul for the first time since the First Timeline.
They just didn't know what awaited them.